Skating remains heavily male, and the skatepark's aura, macho. (Shown here: Pro Omar Hassan.) "For girls, the park can get pretty intimidating because it's all guys," Peltier says. "But it doesn't have to be that way."

Skating remains heavily male, and the skatepark's aura, macho. (Shown here: Pro Omar Hassan.) "For girls, the park can get pretty intimidating because it's all guys," Peltier says. "But it doesn't have to be

A long-awaited skate park and recreation area in north Houston won the City Council's approval Wednesday and construction should begin by the end of the year.

The 10-acre, $5.5 million effort in the Spring area also will be home to a "park without limits" for disabled children, as well as open space, trails and a community center.

As recently as July, the project looked like it might be delayed for years while city officials searched for the $350,000 per year needed to operate and maintain it.

"It's not inexpensive, so we had to make sure the funding was secured," said Mayor Annise Parker. "I wanted to make sure the maintenance was secured. We want it to be a monitored facility so it's safe. All those elements are in place."

The construction bill will be footed by the Greenspoint Redevelopment Authority, and the park will be maintained by the Greenspoint District. The facility is expected to open in spring 2014.

"In the Greenspoint area there's a lot of apartment complexes," said District B Council member Jerry Davis, who represents the area. "We just need a little relief, a place for the kids to go out and relieve some stress, tension."

Residents make push

Davis, who took office in January, said the skate park was one of the first issues he heard about from constituents. Davis, Parker and skate enthusiasts cast the project as an economic development tool.

Barry Blumenthal, spokesperson for Public Use Skate Parks for Houston, agreed. Houston has a large population of residents under age 19, he said, meaning the demographic is there, particularly on the north side. Though he added that plenty of 47-year-olds like him skate, too. North-side skaters today have a tough time getting downtown to the Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park, he said.

'World Cup' skating

"This will provide them a great, fantastic skate park and improve their quality of life greatly," he said. "When you combine these two facilities, this rivals anything in the world in terms of attracting skate tourists. It puts Houston on the map as a really progressive town and allows us to attract World Cup skating events."